Will Murray let McGinn remain in Buffalo and be part of the vital lessons being learned by a budding team, or will the general manager ship out the pending unrestricted free agent for an asset who won’t feel the pride of taking the rebuild’s first steps?

The contract that was supposed to last forever is set to expire July 1, when Backes will become an unrestricted free agent. Talks between the Blues and their captain have been infrequent to date, and though he holds a full no-trade clause, there’s no certainty which way the situation will unfold with just 37 days left before NHL’s trade deadline Feb. 29.

You’re only worth what they’ll pay for you. And if the Swede hits the trade rental market in February, he could fetch the Boston Bruins a heftier return than any other movable forward eyeing unrestricted free agency this summer.

The Blues are fourth in the standings, but they may be leading in trade rumors. The most recent one centers on speedy Tampa Bay Lightning winger Jonathan Drouin, who has demanded a trade and was recently suspended for not showing up to an American Hockey League game.

How much value do those players have on the trade market? Obviously, it’s whatever a rival general manager is willing to pay, but to get a ballpark figure we dug into the trade deadlines of the past few years to see what players in similar roles and with similar production brought back in trade. Using that information, we have assigned a tentative value to Toronto’s potential rental players.

“Earlier this week we reported that the Lightning had made an offer to Steven Stamkos some time in the last few weeks,” Friedman said. “It’s believed that the average salary of that offer is $8.5 million dollars. We’ll see where that takes the negotiation as we head to the trade deadline.”

Yandle, 29, is a trade candidate before the NHL’s Feb. 29 deadline because of his expiring contract and the raise he’ll command from his current $5.25 million salary. GM Jeff Gorton won’t want to lose Yandle for nothing in free agency, but if the team starts winning and Yandle plays well consistently, the GM could keep him because he feels the veteran blue liner gives his team a better chance of advancing deep in the playoffs. Yandle told the Daily News he doesn’t want to leave. He’s a popular player with his teammates and his wife and two young daughters call Tribeca home.

Oilers GM Peter Chiarelli will probably be on the horn to his Arizona counterpart, Don Maloney, five minutes after the televised lottery show, knowing that the Coyotes would be falling all over themselves to get the marketing jewel, Scottsdale-born Matthews, for a much-needed boost in ticket sales. Chiarelli could offer Maloney the No. 1 pick for his diamond, defenceman Oliver Ekman-Larsson, and everybody will live happily ever after. Maloney might tell Chiarelli to drop dead, between guffaws, because Ekman-Larsson is a terrific player; as talented as Erik Karlsson but not quite as offensive. But it never hurts to ask.